By: Paul Ormerod

Paul Ormerod is an economist at Volterra Partners LLP, author and an Honorary Professor at the Alliance Business School at the University of Manchester

All 233 Articles

If you can build a football team, you can advance the fortunes of poor nations

December 7, 2022

In Qatar, there has been a storm over its treatment of women, the LGBT community, and other minorities. But it has also, in another way, been the most egalitarian World Cup. What used to be called “upsets”, with notionally weaker teams beating their alleged superiors have almost become the norm.
In low income parts of the UK, boosting productivity is a question of competition

November 30, 2022

Productivity is a puzzle with many different layers. When it becomes a mainstay in political speeches, it is rarely for a good reason. Most of the recent focus is on why it has been so slow, in the overall economy, for the last decade or so. In the 1990s, productivity in G7 countries rose at [...]
Housing Associations have no accountability and a 2-year-old has paid the price

November 23, 2022

The tragic death of Awaab Ishak, the two-year-old killed by exposure to mould, has been described in detail over the last week. We’ve heard of all the complaints made against Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), the housing association which owned and managed the flat. And yet, the organisation appears to be full of self-congratulation. It boasts [...]
Everyone wants a pay rise, but we will have to pay with cuts to jobs or services

November 16, 2022

The nation seems to be in the grip of an epidemic of cognitive dissonance. Where is Matt Hancock when we really need him to impose a lockdown and save us from this menace? Two major events have put huge strain on the public finances. The pandemic led to government borrowing of some £400bn, around 20 [...]
Sunak’s flexibility has been curtailed by our undue reverence for the Bank of England

November 9, 2022

The Bank of England has forecast a long recession, which could last two years. A statement treated, unquestioningly, as gospel despite the variety of failures at Threadneedle Street.
Not all is doom and gloom: a recession is not the only possible scenario facing Britain

November 2, 2022

The prime minister and the Chancellor are struggling to “balance the books”. Around £50bn might be needed from a combination of cuts to spending plans and increases in taxation. This has led to a chorus of voices squealing about austerity creating a major economic recession. The argument goes back to Keynes, writing in the aftermath [...]
It’s time to go back to basics and go about fixing our deficit before more tax cuts

October 26, 2022

As inflation pushes prices further and further up, food has been getting more expensive for some time. But, as the cliche goes, there was never such a thing as a free lunch.
Our public services will keep falling apart as long as our economy continues to stagnate

October 19, 2022

The major issue in the UK and other European nations is a lack of economic growth. Liz Truss was correct to focus on a tonic for this, even if her plan fell flat.
An information campaign on energy usage would have made a lot of economic sense

October 12, 2022

The prime minister’s apparent veto of a plan to persuade people to use less energy this winter has stirred up controversy. The usual rabble have been quick to decry Liz Truss for abdicating responsibility, following the old lines of those who wanted more or less restrictions during the pandemic. But economic theory can readily justify [...]
Our politicians must wake up to the public debt effect

October 5, 2022

In a novel by C.P. Snow, a physicist turned author who served as science minister under Harold Wilson in the 1960s, the master of a Cambridge college says that “gratitude isn’t an emotion, but the expectation of gratitude is a very lively one.” The prime minister and her Chancellor may well be having exactly the [...]

Healey scraps ‘unfair’ standing charges from gas bills

West Ham’s London Stadium eyes capacity increase to take fight to Wembley

Autumn Budget 2026: In defence of cheaper gherkins, nature’s Ozempic

By: Paul Ormerod

All 233 Articles

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